Concentrated Mite Infestation

PowerHobo

PowerHobo

Chalcosoma
My Dynastes tityus male somehow had a mite infestation in his enclosure. Luckily, the females are in their own enclosures, and after checking there doesn't appear to be any mites in their containers at all.

I've already taken him out and brushed the mites off of him with a paintbrush once last week, as well as changed his sub, but they're back in full force. I'm pretty sure I missed a cluster of mites on the underside of his pronotum (mesosternum?), as I found one there today. He wasn't very happy with me brushing that group off, but as near as I can tell all of the mites have been brushed off of him (unless there are some trapped in the hairs between his pronotum and elytra), and he's hanging out in an empty deli container for a couple hours at least in the hopes that any other mites succumb to desiccation.

I genuinely don't really see any mites in the sub, but I'm going to toss out his sub (which isn't as wet as the pic makes it look) and wash his thoroughly wash his enclosure with dish soap (with a couple extra rinses to be careful) before putting a couple of inches of freshly sterilized topsoil in there for him. Not sure if I can trust that his bark piece won't carry mites back in, so I'll probably leave it out for a few days in the heat of the garage.

Am I missing anything?

I also have some slight concern that both times I've found mites on him they've been clustered on his left elytron. They scatter when disturbed, and I can't see any sort of injury or anything underneath. Is this anything to be concerned about or is it just sort of mite breeding behavior? Pic attached.

IMG_1840.jpg

 
The mites in your photo are of the non-parasitic type. The vast majority of mites that occur on beetles are merely phoretic. For "non-sticky" mites like those in the photo, probably the most thorough (and least annoying for the beetle) method of removal is to use a drinking straw to focus strong blasts of air directly on all of the areas where you see any mites (including those hard to reach ones between joints) until you're sure you've blown off every single one.

For clusters of the sub-microscopic "sticky" mites (the phoretic, hypopus larvae of grain mites) however, somewhat tougher measures are needed since the mites have sucker plates that keep them firmly attached to the adult beetles or larvae. In this case, what's needed is mild water pressure rather than air, so get a standard trigger spray bottle with an adjustable nozzle, set it to "medium" spray intensity, and then start blasting away at the mites at rather close range until you've cleaned all (or at least most) of them off. This method can be used on L2 and L3 larvae of most medium-to-large beetle species without causing them any long-term stress. After being cleaned and placed in fresh substrate, they're going to quickly forget about the "treatment", and resume feeding. If a mite-infested larva has recently molted however, hold off on doing mite removal until they have had time to grow and become "inflated" again.

Incidentally, don't worry about water getting into the spiracles. So far as I can tell, just getting wet for the short time it takes to do mite removal does no harm, and certainly won't suffocate an insect. Insects can temporarily close their spiracles under wet conditions anyway. To suffocate, they would need to be coated with something much thicker than water, such as an oil.

I recommend that no soaps of any kind be used on containers used to house insects. Even dish soap leaves behind residue that's very difficult to completely rise off. Like all surfactants, dish soap is very dangerous for insects, since it counteracts the surface tension on their bodies, and can interfere with their exoskeletal wax coatings, which help prevent moisture loss. Just a few drops of dish soap dissolved in a gallon of water is potent enough to kill many insects on contact.

 
I appreciate the tip on the soaps. I was unaware it was that dangerous. I'll cut that part out and just do a thorough rinse and wipe with a paper towel.

As I said above (had to edit for a few missing words), I'd got him in a deli cup right now. I brushed the mites off early this morning, left him in for about 2 hours, checked again, brushed off the 2 mites I saw, then gave him another 2 hours. Didn't see any mites at all on the last check, so I've got a bed of moist paper towel and a jelly cup in there for him. He's already head first in the jelly cup, so hopefully he's getting over the whole deal. I'll deal with his enclosure and sub when I get home.

 
I usually find that the best way to deal with most pests is to simply torch them. Take a blowtorch and blast away at the substrate, especially any hides. Of course, don’t torch the beetle (that would be bad) this method is very quick and pretty thorough, mites have a large surface area and dry out instantly near anything like a flame.

 
Bugboy3092 said:
I usually find that the best way to deal with most pests is to simply torch them. Take a blowtorch and blast away at the substrate, especially any hides. Of course, don’t torch the beetle (that would be bad) this method is very quick and pretty thorough, mites have a large surface area and dry out instantly near anything like a flame.
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Got it!

 
I had a pleasing fungus beetle last last summer, and I thought I got all the mites squished, but I missed two under the pronotum. Unfortunately, I think that was the cause of death about a few days later. btw, does anyone know the species for those coral pink colored mites? I find those a lot

 
Yeah you can, though it takes longer, and mites usually arent a cause for death in a beetle, unless theyre the egg mites found on d. Granti. Theyre probably phoretic mites. Are there any other reasons the beetle could have died? Maybe old age?

 
Bugboy3092 said:
Yeah you can, though it takes longer, and mites usually arent a cause for death in a beetle, unless theyre the egg mites found on d. Granti. Theyre probably phoretic mites. Are there any other reasons the beetle could have died? Maybe old age?
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Maybe, but it doesn't seem likely, cuz I've had these mites kill beetle grubs before

 
Beetles and grubs are pretty different when it comes to hardiness, how big are the coral pink mites you’re talking about? Are the the tiny mites that are super easy to get, as well as the subject of this thread? Or are they larger, more reddish mites that you often find on Bess beetles?

 
Bugboy3092 said:
Beetles and grubs are pretty different when it comes to hardiness, how big are the coral pink mites you’re talking about? Are the the tiny mites that are super easy to get, as well as the subject of this thread? Or are they larger, more reddish mites that you often find on Bess beetles?
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Yup, the more reddish mites you find on Bess Beetles

 
Thats strange, I think those may be parasitic, Ive never seen them on anything besides Bess beetles. However, I dont think an early death would be caused by two of them (Bess beetles can be totally covered and still be fine).

 
I think it was the stress of removal that killed yours, especially if you kept it out of sub for a while to try to dry out any remaining mites.

I think this mainly because my male D tityus did great for a couple days after removal, but I found him dead the other morning, sadly.

Unfortunately, he apparently tore off his front two tarsi while moribund.

 
If you still found an on-going problem with mites or the mite treatments you have is not working, then it may be time to make some changes in your treatment. Well, there are a number of methods you can do to try to control your mite infestation. However, the most effective way to control and remove mites that have entered your home is to hire a professional pest control company. As there are many pest control exterminator Suffolk County NY specialist is present who will verify the exact kind of pest problem you have and the best method to eliminate them.

 
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I need to make sure I understood this correctly... You're suggesting I invite and pay someone to come introduce pesticides to the room in which I keep my insects?

 
Do not use pesticides, just don’t do it. Also in regards to the motes looks like the substrates a little bit too damp and the mites seem larger than usual and the only female D. Tityus I caught hd a suspiciously large mite on it. It looked like a really pale tick but fit the description of a parasitic egg mite. I crushed it nonetheless outnof fear but I’m pretty sure that it might be a prasitic mite but then again I can’t be sure since no one’s really officially recorded them(I think). I would still eradicate them

just in case. 

 
PowerHobo said:
I need to make sure I understood this correctly... You're suggesting I invite and pay someone to come introduce pesticides to the room in which I keep my insects?
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Gah, it's an extermination spammerbot

(Roachforum gets a few of these nasties too)

 
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